Welcome to Paradise
by Lilbakasaru
Summary: They say compared to this place Hell is a vacation, but to me this is paradise. Welcome to Pandora. Slash Tsu'tey/Jake mpreg
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone, I know I have kinda been ignoring my other stories and I apologies for that. I just can't seem to get any steam up to write any of them. It isn't that I have stopped completely even now I write a few paragraphs for each of my stories. Problem is that I'm constantly getting ideas for new stories which wont leave me alone until I write them down. Heck I've even written two more Naruto fic's, one Psych, one Chuck fic, and one Inuyasha fic. This is the only one however that I feel most confident with and can put up.

It's almost a retelling with a definite **slashy mpreg** twist. So if you don't like any of that **alien man lovin'** I'd say this isn't the fic for you!

Thank you and enjoy!

Summary: They say compared to this place Hell is a vacation, but to me this is paradise. Welcome to Pandora. Slash Tsu'tey/Jake

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><p>Chapter 1: Welcome to Pandora<p>

'_When I was lying there in the VA hospital, with a big hole blown through the middle of my life, I started having these dreams of flying. An expanse of emerald forest beneath me, the harsh wind hitting my face filling my lungs with cool air… I never felt so alive._

_Sooner or later though, you always have to wake up…'_

With a gasp 27-year-old Jake Sully woke up out of his vivid dream. He blinked a couple of times, his light blue eyes adjusting to the dim light of his surroundings. It took a while for him to figure out where he was, his mind a muddle of thought, his body sluggish and mouth and throat feeling like he had eaten cotton wool. A beeping sound alerted him to look up where the holographic projection indicated that he had arrived; a part of him wondered where it was that he had arrived.

Suddenly there was a loud hissing sound and the small compartment flooded with light, blinding him. Arms reached in, fingers wrapped around his shoulders and he felt himself being pulled out. He tried to struggle, his arms flailing around while his legs dangled uselessly.

"Calm yourself soldier, you have just come out of extended hypersleep, you're just a little disoriented," came an authoritative voice, a small torch in hand shining light into his eyes.

Slowly Jake remembered where he was, the interstellar spacecraft, the 'ISV Venture Star', a vessel carrying rations, equipment, and soldiers to a distant planet known as Pandora, or in other words, hell.

"I need a nurse here, this one is paraplegic!" the doctor shouts.

Ah, another thing he didn't want to remember: he couldn't walk. They can fix spinal when you got the money. But not on vet benefits, not in this economy. Earth, or at least what used to be earth, was now just a husk of its former self. With overpopulation and pollution becoming a huge problem most of earth has been declared as a dead-zone, where people with money hold all the power, and a soldier is no better than a hired mercenary.

"People, you have been in cryo for five years, nine months and twenty two days. You will be hungry, you will be weak. If you feel nausea, please use the sacks provided for your convenience. The staff thanks you in advance," said a man dressed head-to-toe in an army outfit.

That's why he was here, even though he couldn't use his legs; at least that's why going to Pandora was his only chance, and the program he had been put under might give him a chance. The Avatar program. He still remembered how he had gotten into it. The board meeting he was called to a few days after he had found out his brother Tom died.

_"You know why you are here, don't you?"_

"_It was lucky that you were twins, quiet extraordinary really."_

_Jake stayed quiet as the Sergeant, a company lackey, sat on the opposite end of a long table. A holographic image of his brother projected on the screen. They both worked for the army; his brother was a brilliant scientist who graduated with honours, enlisted to go into an explorative new Program known as Avatar. Just three years into his training he was killed by a mugger; he didn't even have any money on him. _

_He took another path, chose to be a Marine, a grunt, but he didn't become a marine for the hardship. To be hammered on the anvil of life. He told himself that he could pass any test a man can pass. But after what the war did to him a part of him died, losing his legs killed him, and now he was here. _

_Surrounded by people that wanted to exploit him._

"_You know that your brother was taking part in the Avatar Program," said the general. _

_Jake nodded._

"_Good, then we won't need to explain much. You see the fact that your brother's death means that the company lost a valuable asset," added the company representative. _

_Tch, these people's concern was simply touching, but that's how these corporate types simply worked. It was all about the money._

"_And because of that we wanted to ask if you would take over your brother's contract."_

'_The egghead and the jarhead. Tommy was the scientist, not me. He was the one who wanted to get shot light years out into space to find the answers. Me - I was just another dumb grunt gettin' sent someplace I was gonna regret.'_

_He had watched his brother's body burn, his body engulfed in flames as he was cremated. His life had ended so prematurely, Jake had always thought that between the two of them he would be the first to go. _

"_Think of it this way soldier, it won't mean that just because you can't walk anymore doesn't mean that you can't have another chance."_

_And somehow that seems incentive enough. _

Next he found himself strapped to his wheelchair, at last a familiar object. His fingers graced along the alloy of the wheel, slowly pushing it back and forth, testing his grip and underused muscles. Others walked past him, lumbering towards their lockers to get changed out of their clothes. Jake opened his own locker, taking out his regulation vest and cargo pants. He pulled the dark green vest over his muscled chest, before looking down at his legs. They were thinner than the rest of him, shriveled from not being used. He detested the sight of them.

Jake bent over, placing the trousers under his legs; he picked one up, feeding it through the right pant-leg and getting it over his ankles before moving on with the other. Slowly he pulled it over his knees, then with some maneuvering managed to get them under his butt before buckling them shut. Good thing they were baggy so he couldn't see how thin his legs were. He reached further into his locker and got out his boots and socks and slowly put them on before grabbing his duffel bag. They were being moved on quickly.

He ignored the looks he got from the others, Jake didn't need their pity. Finally he got his bag out and strapped it over his back before wheeling himself to boarding stations of the smaller transport ship knows as the 'Valkyrie', where every soldier was being directed to. He pulled himself out of his wheelchair and sat down on his designated seat before folding it closed and strapping it to his side. He was packed in tight with forty other soldiers in a small hull, masks were hanging behind each chair.

"Please ensure that your belts are put on properly and secure, thank you," came the electronic voice.

There was a loud bang as they were shot away from the interstellar spacecraft the 'ISV Venture Star', and through a small window just to his right he saw an infinite space. Jake had never really been into astronomy, again it was another thing his brother had been fascinated with, but he still thought that space was a beautiful place. Then just ahead the swirling blue gas giant _Polyphemus_ came into view, it looked like a smaller version of Jupiter without the rings, instead 14 moons surrounded it. The most prominent one being their destination, Pandora.

Pandora was the fifth moon, from what he was taught in orientation. Discovered by the first interstellar expedition in 2129, Jake still remembered watching the news report when they talked about the first other planet except for earth that held life. The probes sent through showed Pandora as a lush rich paradise filled with strange flora and fauna. Jake had never seen anything like that on earth. A planet brimming with life.

"Prepare for decent in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5…"

The hull shook like crazy and he felt he was being pulled out of his seat. So he gripped the side of his seat tightly and closed his eyes while the g-forces did their work, creaking the thick metal of the cabin. Soon he felt the shaking slow down as they breached the atmosphere; he opened his lids, blue eyes blinded by the light penetrating through the window.

He blinked in astonishment seeing the blue sky, but suddenly he was taken back to his continuous dream of flying. A sea of green flew under him, with massive cliffs towering over everything. Great scarves of cloud swirl around the mesa tops. A primeval landscape, vast and forbidding. The trees are alien, the colour too cyan. There are waterfalls, rivers, and distant flocks of winged creatures. It all took Jake's breath away.

Suddenly the virgin rainforest gives away to an open mine pit.

Jake's blue eyes widened when he saw the lifeless crater as if a cookie cutter had been used to disembowel the landscape. Trucks and excavators the size of three story buildings roamed the crater excavating precious minerals from the ground. Beyond that was their final destination, the only human colony on Pandora in an area known as Hell's Gate.

Hell's Gate is a cluster of squat concrete and steel structures surrounded by a chain-link fence over 10 meters high, topped with razor wire. At the corners were bigger towers with sentry guns swiveling on servo mounts. Jake guessed that the lush forest hid more than he could imagine. The Valkyrie roared above the treetops, it nose diving down towards the colony and then coming to a slow hover over the open landing pad and landed with a loud slam.

"Okay everyone, Exopacks on!" shouted the crew chief, a tall black man donned in military clothes and cap holding an exopack in hand.

"Remember people, you lose your mask you're unconscious in 20 seconds, and you're dead in four minutes. Let's nobody be dead today, it looks bad on my report," he shouted.

The other marines chuckled at crew chief's joke and pulled the exopacks over their heads, even stood up taking their packs out and shouldering them. Jake strapped on his own mask. The breach doors opened and one by one the crew chief ushered them out one by one.

"Go directly into the base! Do not stop! Go straight inside!"

He was last; he ran his gloved hand through his brown hair nervously, then reached beside him to pull out his wheelchair and unfolded it. With some effort Jake managed to haul himself out of his seat and into the wheelchair, before reaching over to pick up his pack.

"Move it soldier, let's go, let's go!" shouted the crew chief.

Jake moved quickly. He wheeled himself out of the hull and down the ramp, and it was then for the first time he managed to get a proper glimpse at the human colony. It was obviously army ruled, soldiers everywhere checking equipment, moving cargo out of the Valkyrie, and some even testing out the new MITSUBISHI MK-6 AMPSUITS. They used to be real troops, soldiers fighting for a cause.

Now they are hired mercenaries working for the company.

Jake pumped his chair forward, looking around as a huge tractor taller then a house rolled in front of him with muddy wheels. That's when he noticed what was actually on the wheels; decorative, almost tribal-looking spears and arrows were embedded in the wheel. Jake couldn't help but frown at the sight. Beyond the tractor, two VTOL vehicles take off. Armoured and heavily armed, they are AT-99 "SCORPION" GUNSHIPS. He pushed himself forwards, avoiding the rushing troops and towards the main base, the largest building in the colony.

"Check it out man, meals on wheels," a voice snapped.

"That's just wrong…" came another voice.

Jake turned to the two soldiers with a glare, both sporting the typical jar-head look.

"What're you two limpdicks starin' at?" he snapped back, earning smirks from both of them, but Jake was used to it.

After all what use is a marine without legs?

As it turned out the main part of orientation was being held in the mess-hall, no point in squandering money on a proper Auditorium that would hardly be used. He was also the last one to come it. An elder man, sporting a typical jar-head look, all with square jaw and square head. His hair was greying and his face was haggard and weather worn. His grey eyes filled with the wisdom of war, of a man who has seen it all and come out the other end. A set of deep parallel scars came down the side of his face, and the sleeves of his standard issue shirt were rolled up, showing off a crisscross of scars all over his arms. Jake guessed he was the head of security on Hell's Gate.

"You're not in Kansas anymore…" he said.

"My name is Colonel Miles Quaritch, and you are on Pandora ladies and gentleman. Respect that fact every second of every day," he said. His voice filled with confidence and strength as he slowly strode towards the window and pointed out towards the tree line.

"Out beyond that fence every living thing that crawls, flies or squats in the mud wants to kill you and eat your eyes for jujubees."

The room went silent, enraptured by what the Colonel was saying.

"We have an indigenous population of humanoids here called the _Na'vi. _They're fond of arrows dipped in a neurotoxin which can stop your heart in one minute. We operate - we live -at a constant threat condition yellow," he turned away from everyone.

"As head of security, it's my job to keep you alive. I will not succeed… " Jake could see everyone in the room tense.

"Not with all of you. If you wish to survive, you need a strong mental attitude, you need to follow procedure..." he continued on, and the brunette couldn't help but smile, nothing like an old-school safety brief to put your mind at ease.

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><p>Review and join the dark side, we have cookies<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

_And here is the second chapter, thank you all so much for all the amazing reviews it really warms my heart! For this chapter I had to do lot of research, fortunately there is AvatarWiki to help me with most of my Alien anatomical needs. Of course some of it is fudged to fit in with the mpreg._

_Thank you all so much for reading!_

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><p>Chapter 2: My Other body<p>

After the safety talk Jake followed everyone else out of the mess-hall, he tried to figure out the signs leading people to their workstations. Jake himself was lost; he couldn't follow the other troops to where they went, since he didn't belong there anymore. Which meant that currently he was lost. A sigh left him as he tightened his grip on the alloy of his wheel. He made sure that his duffle bag was placed securely on his knees before simply deciding to follow the most geekiest-looking people, hoping they would take him to the right place.

"Hey!" called a voice.

Jake stopped and turned to see who had called him, just a lanky guy with dark brown hair, although the patchy goatee he sported was lighter. The man wore a wide happy smile on his face that made his dark green eyes twinkle. He wore a plain greyish shirt with a dark brown vest over the top and dark shorts.

"Hey, you're Jake, right?" he said enthusiastically, shouldering his pack while reaching his right hand out to shake. "Tom's brother? You look a lot like him."

Jake couldn't help but stare up at the tall guy apprehensively, which he seemed to notice and instantly tried to correct himself. "Sorry, my name is Norm Spellman, I went through Avatar training with him."

The veteran nodded and took Norm's hand into his own to shake.

"He was a great guy… funny . It was a big shock to all of us," he said, giving a remorseful look.

"Yeah…" Jake nodded, taking his hand out of the shake and pushed himself forwards, while Norm followed him.

"And duh! - obviously you look like him. I mean, if you weren't genetically identical, you wouldn't be taking over his avatar," said Norm nervously.

"That's what I'm here for."

"Well, do you want to go see it?"

Jake looked up confused. "See what?" he asked.

"Your Avatar of course!"

Jake was curious what these Avatars actually looked like, Tom never really talked about it properly but he always seemed excited when he talked about the program. Even the mission brief he had to read wasn't that thorough and actually quiet vague on the details. It would be exciting to finally find what an 'Avatar' actually was.

"Sure, that would be great."

"C'mon, follow me," said Norm with a grin.

The brunette pushed himself forwards, winding through the busy hallways with Norm. There were too many people around which was difficult for him to make through. They found themselves in front of the closed doors to the Bio-Lab. Norm swiped in his badge so that the electronic doors swished open to reveal inside. It was a huge room, with the main console set out in the centre of the complex with many adjoining rooms. Norm led him down the ramp towards a set of scientists who were supervising the uncrating of two shipping containers.

"Hello Doctor Patel," Norm called out.

"Ah Norm, it's good to see you, did you have a good trip, and I already told you to call me Max, " then he looked down finally noticing Jake. Surprise seemed to filter through his eyes before he gave him an awkward smile. "You must be Jake Sully, I'm sorry to hear what happened to your brother."

"It's fine, it wasn't something that could be predicted," he replied.

There was a point of awkward silence which was disturbed by a loud hissing as the hydraulics locks of the crates unlocked and the shipping containers opened. The nearest had its side removed to show a ceiling-high acrylic tank, an amino tank, and the creature that was floating inside, a very, very large creature.

"Damn, they're big," Jake couldn't help but exclaim.

Norm couldn't help but chuckle. "They mature on the trip out," he then turned to Max. "So that the proprioceptive sims worked pretty well."

"Yeah, they've got great muscle tone. Give us a day or two then you guys can take them for a spin," replied Max.

Jake wanting to get a better look pushed himself forward towards the tank, wheeling around to the side to look through the glass at the bluish amino liquid.

It was a blue man with almost feline features, its skin cyanide blue, a pair of cat-like ears sprouting from its head, and what looked like pale blue stripes coming down the side of his face and flowing down the rest of his shoulders to curl around its stomach. Its nose was long, shaped almost snout-like, reminding him more and more of an animal. Blood circulated through a synthetic umbilical cord that is attached to its abdomen. As the creature floated in the fluid it revealed a lemur-like tail, that gave unconscious twitches, its long fingers curling together like babies in the womb. Long black hairs came down from its head, braided strands drifting gracefully like seaweed in the water.

Jake remembered reading what these Avatars were, remotely controlled bodies grown from human DNA mixed with DNA of the natives. But he had never seen the pictures of the Avatars before, this was the first time. The avatar turned in the water and Jake was taken aback by how much the face… the face…

"It looks like Tom," he couldn't help but whisper.

"No," Norm spoke up. "It looks like you. This is your Avatar now, Jake."

For some reason the comment stung. His brother was dead, and now he was the replacement. Nonetheless Jake was mesmerized by the creature in the tank, even if he wasn't the one who was meant to ride it.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoO**

It would be thought that after almost six years of cryo sleep you wouldn't feel tired, but Jake did. Maybe it was just him trying to get used to this new place, the compound of Hell's Gate was something familiar. The military regime was something he was used to. Yet when he looked through the reinforced windows he saw a different world… well he was on an Alien planet, but that wasn't it. Maybe it was the culture shock.

This was after all the first time where he had gone off planet. That might have been the reason why he felt the way he did. Especially here where suddenly he wasn't a marine anymore but part of the geek troupe, the scientists. His brother would have loved it here, Tom couldn't stop talking about this place when he was enlisted. It was a bitter thought.

Yet even though he was tired he couldn't sleep. So he decided to go back to the Bio-Lab to have a look at the tank, and his Avatar. He had gotten his own id card now and swiped himself to get inside. As soon as he got in he was met by shouting, a red-haired woman was drawing up a storm shouting at the staff as she strides out of the 'Link room'.

"What is wrong with you all, I asked for the delay glitch to be fixed yesterday. Why am I still having problems with reaction time?" she snapped, although from the reactions of the other staff members it was a sight they have seen before, and weren't scared at all.

She continued to snap at everyone before demanding a cigarette, which one of the younger women brought her. Then she turned her gaze on him, and he was taken aback by how furious she looked. She strode up the ramp and came to a stop right in front of him, hand on her hips, exuding her authority and anger.

"You the replacement?" it wasn't much of a question, more of a statement.

"Er…"

"God!" she went off in a huff. "I needed the scientist with the PhD and 3 years training, not a fucking gun-toting gorilla!"

Now Jake didn't appreciate the comment at all. "Yeah well you got me instead, I know it's a big inconvenience for everyone," he replied with just the same amount of force .

She paused then gave him a glance. She tsked and turned away to go back to the main console, bringing up some figure before transferring it to her portable holo display, before she turned to look at him again. Scrutinizing him from head to toe.

"How much experience do you have on a simulator?"

"None."

Her face contorted in distaste. "Great , ever run a gas chromatograph?"

"No."

"Lab work?" she asked, her voice filled with disbelief.

"High school chemistry, but I ditched."

She looked just about ready to explode. "We are meant to go on a field a mission tomorrow and they got us someone who knows nothing!"

"I read the mission reports."

"Mission reports are bias and full of shit!" she snapped slamming her holo display on the metal desk. "Max, get this bozo a crash course on Pandorian xenology, I want him fully prepped and ready for tomorrow. I'm gonna go talk to Selfridge."

She shoved past him and through the automatic door to get to the upper levels. Jake watched her go before turning to look at the sympathetic yet bemused Max. He nodded towards Jake and motioned him to follow; the brunette pushed himself, turning his chair so that he could follow the scientist in the opposite direction, away from the angry woman. Maz grabbed a few folders from a shelf, probably filled with research that he would have to go through and learn.

"Who is she?"

"Huh? Oh, her name is Grace Augustine, she's a legend. She's the head of the Avatar Program and practically wrote the book, no literally wrote _the book_, on Pandorian botany!"

Jake couldn't help but chuckle, Max seemed to have a touch of hero worship on the scientist. the man continued telling him extracts of the book, but he wasn't really listening. He led Jake into a mostly empty room that was mostly dominated by a large vid screen. Max put the screen on before opening the folder to take out a small usb. He inserted it into the side of the screen; suddenly the screen flashed to show off a blue humanoid creature, looking much like the Avatars. A male and female version. Expect their faces were more animal-like than the Avatar's, their eyes bigger, no eyebrows and long braided hair on their head. They were both thin, although the male obviously more toned; what he was curious about was that they seemed to have no outer features. As if they were wearing a blue bodysuit, their torso's extremely thin, and with no body hair as well.

"We'll start with the basics that appear on both genders, okay?" Max stated as he put the lights off.

"Sure, let's get started."

"These are the humanoid indigenous creatures that live on Pandora, we call them the Na'vi. Although they would probably kill you if you called them by that name, they see it as an insult, a bastardisation of their culture.

"On Pandora there're several tribes, each with their own unique beliefs and ways of living, but they all tie themselves around their goddess Eywa."

"_Eeew-ya_?"

"No, no, it's more like _aey-wahh._ We'll have to book a language session as well but we won't have time for that 's continue; the tribe that Dr. Augustine has association with call themselves _Omatikaya_, or Omaticaya in English, which means the Blue Flute Clan. The tribe lives in the forest, and their leader is called the _Eytukan. _Keeping up so far?"

Jake couldn't help but snort, "Yeah."

"Good, and then there is _Mo'at_ their spiritual leader, remember Eywa? Well supposedly she has a direct connection with their deity, and can even speak to her through visions."

"Really? I find that hard to believe…" he muttered. She probably drugged herself like one of those oracles from ancient Greece.

"The indigenous stand at around 3 meters tall, we believe that this is due to the denser Pandorian atmosphere. They have smooth skin that is cyan in colour, accentuated with slightly darker cyan stripes; this is a form of camouflage and helps them to blend in with their environment.

"What's interesting also is that they have bioluminescent markings all along the skin which flows with the path of the circulatory or nervous system, Dr. Augustine thinks that they're a form of identification and can even display moods. As you noticed their eyes are large, and almost cat-like; it's an aid to help them see in the dark, don't worry your Avatar has the same general attributes."

"Wait, does that mean they bleed blue or something?" Jake asked.

"No, their blood is as red as ours. Now the Na'vi live longer than the average human, about 30% longer, although they mature more rapidly. The first time we visited them they called us 'children'. Grace wasn't happy with that at all, being called a child is never fun," Max said, moving along the slides.

"I can imagine," she didn't seem like the type who liked getting undermined.

"Movin' on, their skeletons are reinforced with naturally occurring Carbon fibre, meaning that it's light yet very strong. This mean that they are very agile and Grace has even observed them jumping from treetops like monkeys, and they're four times stronger than the average human. Their tail is used for balance, but it can be moved like any other appendage, yet it often also expresses emotions. The average male mass is around 162 kg, but about 0.8g lighter because of the gravity, females are obviously lighter. They have four fingers, and that includes the opposable thumbs, yet the Avatars you'll be using have the normal 5 fingers. But what is most interesting is that the Na'vi also have opposable toes, again like our primate relatives.

"You also might have noticed the hair, the Na'vi have a large amount of it braided around a natural queue that protrudes from the base of their skull and is connected to the brainstem. Dr. Augustine mentions that they can use the queue's as a form of communication, building bonds, and it also plays a large part in their mating rituals, although she isn't completely sure how it works. Only that queues are tightly packed with nerves and so very sensitive."

Through each explanation the pictures displayed changed, zooming in on each prominent parts high-lighted and labeled. Jake felt like his head was pounding with all this new information, but the way Max was looking at him he felt like there was more to this than what he first thought.

"There's more to this, isn't there?" he asked.

Max looked slightly uncomfortable; he fidgeted before turning away from Jake. "Well er, biology wise there're male and female, but recently there have been, how do I say this… a third sex?"

"Third sex?"

"A form of hermaphroditesation among the male species to be exact, the Omaticaya clan said that in the past 50 years there have been fewer females being born overall. Eywa their goddess corrected that by giving young males the 'gift' of birth," he finished.

The brunette looked at him in disbelief. He may not know a lot about biology, but he was starting to get some sort of idea of what the scientist was talking about. "Are you actually telling me that the males can get pregnant?" he asked, then he frowned. "Wait...why are you telling me this?"

"When we made Tom's- I mean your Avatar, we found that your gene allowed for the RNA to appear. Your Avatar is a hermaphrodite."

If Jake wasn't a hardened soldier, he would have fainted.

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><p><em>Review and join the dark side we have cookies!<em>


	3. Chapter 3

_And here we have the third chapter! I do want to clear up a few things now from the previous chapter before continuing._

_**Max's last name: **__I'm actually using an uncut original script from Avatar to help me with dialogue, on their Max's last name is __**Cullimore**__ not __**Patel**__. So yes apologies about that. I have already made the necessary changes in the previous chapter._

_**The Nav'vi name: **__Because of my poor wording, or rather what I want to emphasis on later chapter's was that the Na'vi simply hate the 'skypeople' using their name's and their words. They feel that it cheapens the meaning._

_**On a much bigger note anyone good at speaking Na'vi? I need help with translation, could probably manage single words but with full I have trouble. So please either PM me or review to offer your help!**_

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><p><em>Thank you very much!<em>

Chapter 3: New body

Grace stormed past through the halls, everyone keeping a safe distance away from her when they felt the anger emanating off the Doctor. No one wanted to get in her way. She walked all the way from the Link room to the main OPS centre, the heels of her shoes racketing against the metal grill of the floor.

The OPS centre reminded Grace sometimes of an air-traffic control tower with lots of screen and wide bay windows showing off the whole complex.

The Administrator of the whole complex was one Parker Selfridge, a weedy little fellow in Grace's opinion. With his greasy slicked back brown hair and corporate dress style he was certainly out of place amongst all the soldiers and Technicians. He was young, smart, charismatic, like a salesman, and just like them he could be ruthless. Selfridge wasn't here to explore the planet or research the natives; all he was interested in was numbers, dollar numbers to be precise. Next to him was Colonel Quaritch, if he had it his way he would simply nuke the whole planet out rather than go through all this _tedious_ negotiating.

Currently Selfridge was playing a game of indoor golf that had Grace sneering. He took a ball from a newly opened case and set it carefully on the floor. He assumes the stance and lines up his putt, aiming towards a practice up across the control room floor. But before the ball even reached the cup Grace kicked it away. Parker looks up at her, barely keeping his anger in check.

"Parker, I used to think it was benign neglect, but now I see that you're _intentionally _screwing with us," she said glaring at the younger man.

"Grace, I do so enjoy our little talks," god even his voice seemed to be dipped in grease.

"I need a research assistant, not some jarhead dropout."

"Actually I'd say we got very lucky with him," Selfridge replied putting his putter back in its case so that he wouldn't hit her with it.

Grace put her hands to her hips. "Lucky? How is this in any way lucky?" she asked, her voice filled with derision.

She watched as Selfridge walked past her to pick the ball and practice cup up before it went lost. Trying to get new equipment on this godforsaken planet would take years.

"Well- lucky your guy had a twin brother, and lucky the brother wasn't an oral hygienist or something. A Marine we can use. I'm assigning him to your team as security escort."

"The last thing I need is another trigger happy asshole out there!"

"Look," he shouted turning back to her. "You're supposed to be winning the hearts and minds of the natives; isn't that the whole point of your little puppet show? If you look like them, if you talk like them, they'll trust you, right?" he then walked right past her storming into his office with the doctor following right behind.

"But after what- how many years?- relations with the indigenous are only getting worse."

The redhead fixed him with a glare. "That tends to happen when you use machine guns on them."

Selfridge sighed, but not out of defeat, more like repressed anger; they had this argument so many times it was starting to annoy him. Was it his fault that when they tried to educate the aliens and teach them some civility they simply threw it all back in his face? He wanted to take care of things peacefully, minimal loss, but things were taking too long and the company was starting to get impatient with the lack of results.

He reached towards his desk on which on a magnetic base hovering in mid-air surrounded by an almost invisible field, is a lump of metallic rock. He grabs it and holds it up between thumb and forefinger, almost pushing it into Grace's face.

"This is why we're here. Unobtanium," he said, gripping the rock tightly as if it was some sort of magical item.

"Because this little gray rock sells for twenty million a kilo. No other reason. _This_ is what pays for the party, and it's what pays for your science. **Comprendo?**" When Grace didn't answer he went to place the rock back into the magnetic field.

"Those savages are threatening our whole operation, we're on the brink of war, and you're supposed to find a diplomatic solution. So use what you've got and get me some results."

He didn't need to turn around to know how angry the doctor was at him, he could hear it in her stomping footsteps as she walked out.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoO**

"The idea is that every driver is matched to his own avatar… or at least that's what they tell me. In all honesty I don't really get it…"

Jake snorted and looked away from the camera, feeling stupid. They were meant to do daily video diaries to help keep track of their 'emotional' and 'psychological' progress while assimilating with their Avatar. It was meant to monitor the effects of neurological transfer or something like that for research purposes. All in all it didn't make sense to him and he didn't want to think about it any further, it only gave him a headache; but he still had to finish this video report.

A sigh left him as he went to continue. "It's something about how their nervous systems are in tune. Which is why they offered me this gig, because I can link with Tommy's Avatar." The next part he mumbled more to himself, "Although after what they told me yesterday I don't really know how much I want to do this."

After finding out that his particular Avatar was a hermaphrodite Jake wanted to run for the hills, just get off planet no matter what. But there wouldn't be another ship to get him off planet for another eleven years, and staying on Pandora wasn't free. There were also very few jobs that a man like him could do. That wasn't even including the fact that those Avatars were expensive, and the company wouldn't allow him to abandon his new contract on what they would call a 'technicality'.

When he asked if the so called 'womb' could be removed Max told him that it would probably be a bad idea. There still wasn't a complete understanding of the alien anatomy and no one wanted to risk removing a body part without full understanding of its effect and consequences. Jake just thought that they simply wanted to 'observe' an actual hermaphrodite rather than actually remove the damn organ and risk damage, than to make him feel more comfortable.

He ran his hands through his hair in frustration, he hated being recorded it made him feel self-conscious. Jake growled inwardly and then turned around to Norm, who was making his own video log, and Max who was doing some calculations. "Is this right? I just say whatever in these video logs?"

Norm looked up and nodded. "Yeah. You just need to get in the habit of documenting everything, like what you see or feel. It's all part of the science, good science starts with good observation," he said with an almost haughty tone.

The brunette arched an eyebrow. "Right…" he said and then slowly turned back to look at the camera. Still not really understanding why he was doing this. "So, whatever. Here I am, doing science. Never been in a lab before," he said, looking around his new surroundings.

He ignored the giggles coming from both Norm and Max, but he didn't have any idea what to say next. So far he didn't have a test run of his Avatar yet, that was meant to happen sometimes later today, so there wasn't a way he could really talk about his 'feelings'. He was at a loss at all the information cramped in his head the day before, Jake still felt he had been given absolutely no time to process things properly. There wasn't much else that he understood about anything else, he wasn't a scientist but a solider, he had a different of type training that ruled a life.

Jake was just about to simply give up when Max suddenly stood with Norm following him. "Log off. The boss is here."

Being glad about not having to continue his video log anymore, he eagerly followed Max and Norm out of the room. As he wheeled him into the Link room he noticed there was quite a rush of people moving about, looking data over, and fixing last minute glitches. Grace was amongst it all, barking out orders for everyone to follow. As soon as she spotted him, she made her way towards them.

"C'mon boys get moving, we haven't got all day," she shouted waving them over.

Jake looked around and as he came down the ramp he noticed the other room, separated by a thick piece of glass. Inside it was a sterile room with that reminded him of a hospital room what with all the people going around in scrubs and face-masks. Yet what drew his attention the most were the two Avatars lying on the oversized gurneys, slowly breathing through exo-masks. He frowned at first but then he remembered that they couldn't breathe in the normal human air. But they went past the room and towards the Psionic Link units which looked as if a coffin and MRI machine decided to hook up and get a baby. Really claustrophobic looking.

The lid to his coffin was slowly opened to reveal that it came in two 'layers', a white mech-like shape which was the biomentric sensor, and a gel-like interior that had a human-shaped indentation in the middle. Jake pushed his fingers into the soft material experimentally; it seemed nice enough, so he pushed himself closer to the bed, bracing his arm at the edge and used his upper body to pull himself up on it. Grace was already there, bracing his back, but when he saw her reaching for his legs so that they could also be placed inside he slapped them away.

"No, I can do it," he said, feeling uncomfortable about anyone touching his legs.

Grace frowned but stayed up watching him as he slowly dragged his legs up and placed them inside before he himself laid down. He settled himself into the warm fluid gel packs lining the unit that seemed to engulf him.

Dr. Augustine continued watched him with a shake of her head. "So you figured that you'd come all the way out here in the most hostile environment known to man, with minimal training of any kind, and see how it went? What was going through your head?" she said dispassionately.

Jake only gave her a glare. "Maybe I was just tired of doctors telling me what I couldn't do."

The redhead didn't say anything to that, instead she slowly leaned forward and slowly lowered the clamshell mech over him. It really made him feel like he had been netted in; the doctor, noticing his sudden apprehension, leaned over so that she was looking straight into his eyes.

"Relax and let your mind go blank. That shouldn't be hard for you," she said with an almost smile.

Jake glares at her. "Kiss the darkest part of my lily white-" but his voice was muffled by the lid being slammed down.

She then turned towards Max and nodded at him, who nodded back. The Indian picked up his PAD and pressed a few buttons. "Initiate link."

The link techs started pressing the holographic tabs and buttons. On a large monitor a 3D image scan of Jake's brain appeared, the regions with brain activity flow shifted with complex colour. Max hummed in approval at the sight.

"Nice brain activity," he commented, the link tech agreed.

Grace snorted and crossed her arms together in distaste. "Figures…" she grumbled. "Alright, I'm going in," she said and went to her own Psionic Link unit.

The link tech pressed another button. "Phase-lock at forty percent. He's in transition," she said watching the monitor. Max watched as the red 3D image indicating Jake started to slowly merge together with the bluish 3D Avatar figure. Their nervous systems aligning, like two ghostly networks of light merging.

Inside Jake watched his light blue surroundings, his confinements really starting to bother him, but he tried to relax himself and clear his mind just like Grace had told him. He took a deep breath, relaxing himself into the cool gel and closed his eyes and started to dream. His eyes move under his lids like in an REM sleep. Inside his mind radiant light streamers coiling together into a pulsing tunnel that he followed down like a rollercoaster and then-

He was blinded, the light too much for him to take; two blurry shapes and out of focus images blocked out the light. Golden eyes blinked open and close, cat-like pupils contracting at the searing light as they slowly pulsed with life.

"He's in," Max called out.

The link tech nodded. "Phase-lock at ninety percent, the link is stable."

But their words were distant echoes to Jake, but it was completely blocked when he heard that horrendous clicking hammering against his ears. They made him flinch and he tried to move away from the noise. That's when he noticed that those blurry things were actually the doctors wearing masks and protective suits. They were sayings things but Jake wasn't really listening, instead he was overwhelmed by all the new sensations and feelings bombarding him. It was intense and new as if he was experiencing everything for the first time.

He groaned and slowly sat up, ignoring the protests from the doctors; instead he was more fascinated by his new body. Jake stretched his fingers, moving his fingers testing their dexterity, spellbound by their sight. Then he looked down at his legs and his golden eyes widened when he saw how strong and muscled they looked, his breathing hitched in when he managed to wriggle his toes. God, it had been years since he felt his legs now there they were, stronger than ever. A deeper part of him reminded him that these weren't his real legs, heck this wasn't even a 'real' body, just some petri dish Frankenstein's monster. But all those thoughts were instantly pulled aside when he managed to stand up.

The happiness coursing through him could not be described; he looked at all the doctors panicking around him. They looked so small! Like children against his nine foot frame.

Then he felt a sudden pain going up his spine; he looked behind himself and a gasp left him when he noticed that he also has a tail! Jake tried to more the new appendage again, but even though he only wanted to move it a little it whacked against the gurney, making him wince in pain again. The doctors were telling him to calm down and sit down again so that they could conduct some tests but Jake was too excited to simply sit down. He wanted to explore, he wanted to _feel_!

He staggered around, moving around the smaller doctors afraid that he would accidently crush them as he moved past them, ignoring their calls for him to stop. The wires to the biomonitors pulled taut around him; he yanked them off his chest, instruments clattered to the floor and his cat-like ears started to flick in pain again. Yet he continued on towards the door and opened it, freezing in the archway as he was blinded by the morning sun of the strange planet.

Jake stared in amazement at the sight before him. He found himself in the Avatar compound- a living and training area for all newly linked Avatar's, a place where they could get used to their new bodies. Nearby, a couple of Avatars were playing one-on-one basketball on a non-regulation basketball net. Others were tackling the obstacle fields and other sports activities. Eagerly Jake flexed his legs, he took a few steps getting used to the new muscles before he started to build up to a run. Soon he was moving swiftly past through all the courses, ignoring all the shouts and avoiding anyone who got in his way.

After what seemed like forever he found himself in the compound garden surrounded by neatly cut rows of strange alien plants. The smile on Jake's face grew and he continued to look around himself, wanting to touch and feel everything, but he felt too scared to even reach out. Looking down at his feet he delighted in the fact that he could actually feel the dirt from the ground between his toes. He inhaled deeply, reveling in the smells- the earth, plants, nearby forest, but what amazed him even more was that he could see his footprints in the soil. Actual footprints and not tire marks!

While he was distracted by his new environment he never noticed Grace making her way towards him until he heard her calling. "Hey, Marine!" she shouted.

Jake turned around, his golden eyes nearly popping out his skull at the sight of the doctor's Avatar body. It certainly looked like her, at least her facial features, expect for the whole blue things; but the rest of her… well it sure was something different. A slim long body with what he guessed would be a normal-sized dark green shirt on a human body only barely reached her navel on her Avatar. Tight cargo pants covered her shapely hips, showing off her athletic figure and making her look younger.

"Grace?" he called out in disbelief.

"Well what do you expect, numbnuts?" she reached into the bushes ripping something off a plant. "Here, think fast!" she shouted throwing the object at him.

Jake caught it easily, looking down in confusion at the strange new, slightly squishy, object in his hand.

"Motor control is looking good," Grace commented and then laughed when the marine started sniffing and touching the object.

"It's a fruit, you can eat it," she said.

Jake looked back at her before he brought the Pandorian fruit up to his mouth and took a big bite out of it. Instantly his tongue was bombarded with a million sweet flavours as he chewed through the juicy flesh. He only had real fruit one time on earth, it had been an apple, and his parents had to save up quite a lot of money to simply buy four for each of them. The actuality of eating 'real' food was only a right reserved for the rich, and usually a treat when he was younger. Instead they usually made do with synthetic slurry filled with all the necessary nutrients the body would need, for a daily meal.

So even though this alien fruit looked plain and unremarkable with its almost leathery brown bumpy skin and ovalish shape, the flavour itself was indescribable. He had never eaten anything like this.

"Hey, check this out!" came a familiar voice.

Jake turned around to see Norm behind him flexing his body like a body builder to show off his new toned and muscular body. He wanted to laugh, it truly must be a new experience for the geeky man to possess such a well-defined body, compared to his tall lanky one. Then Norm looked back at them with a cheeky grin.

"I'm a living God."

The laughter he had been holding in spilled out.

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><p><em>Review and join the dark side we have cookies!<em>


	4. Chapter 4

_Hello everyone sorry it took so long for me to update, Uni has been a bit crazy and then I also managed to get side tracked my mmorpg's. Eden Eternal has captured my heart! Really I have slowed down with them for now… must concentrate on work! So many fic's to update. Hope you all enjoy this extra long chapter!_

_Beta read by Kuro Mitsu_

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><p>Chapter 4: First Mission<p>

_He was flying again, the aquamarine forest passing past below him. Jake was giddy with excitement, the wind going through his air chilling his warm cheeks, adrenaline coursing through every part of his body. His heart beating so fast that he thought it would break out of his chest. Yet even with all this excitement he felt at peace, as if he belonged in the sky, amongst the cotton white clouds. His gaze fell towards the ground again, his blue eyes widening in shock when the beautiful forest gave way to the dark desolate pit of the mines. _

_There was a beeping sound and suddenly-_

_K-WHOOOM!_

_The entire face of one terrace was blown skyward in a chain of explosions. The shot blasted hundreds of tons of rock loose. Jake watched in disgust as enormous wheel-loaders started shoveling up the ore-rich rock and dropping their cargo into dump trucks. He watched the disembowelment with shock, seeing a wall dozer blades crush everything in its path as it reduced trees to kindling. Remotely operated dozers cutting a road through the dense jungle, their slash-cutters, a vicious spinning head mounted on hydraulic arms, that hogs through the enormous tree trunks in a spray of wood-shrapnel._

_The heavy machines were escorted by ampsuits, Colonel Quaritch on foot as leader. Jake didn't know why but the sight of the man brought nothing but rage and anger up inside of him. The trail of destruction was this man's fault; he had to get rid of him. He had to kill him._

_Jake felt himself flying downwards towards the older man, his body tensed and ready to attack, wanting to shred him to pieces like he had the forest. Yet before he even got close Quaritch raised his gun, aimed and took shot. Two bullets landed firmly in his chest; the shriek that left him was inhuman, more animal than man. He clutched his chest, surprised to see that instead of his normal fleshy arms he saw two blue striped ones. The ground came ever closer, and he crashed with a sickening crash-_

"Ahhhh!"

He screamed, fighting the covers off him as he fell out of bed and onto the hard ground. Jake groaned as his head hit against the hard floor. His lunged felt like they were being crushed as he laid there, his body feeling weak and drained. Loud footsteps made their way towards his room, the knocking on his door only made his head hurt more.

"Jake you okay, we heard screams!" it sounded like Max's concerned voice.

It took him a while to gain his bearings, the world had yet to stop spinning. But he had to reply before they all stormed in and saw him like this. "Yeah fine… just-just a bad dream," he replied back.

There was silence form the other side. "Well, okay, if you say so…" came Max's uncertain reply.

He listened to the footsteps had faded away before forcing himself into a sitting position. His back resting against the side of the bed, he ran his hand through his short hair feeling for a bump or any other kind of injury. Not finding one he tried to relax, but he still felt edgy, his heart beating like a drum, pounding in his chest as if he has run a mile. That must have been a really bad dream, but for the life of him he couldn't remember what it was. Jake tried not to dwell on it; after all, it was just a stupid dream.

Jake sighed looking down at his crippled legs, detesting the sight of them. He rubbed the pale skin as if trying to wipe their existent away. It had been nearly a week into the Avatar program and he was already starting to get homesick. He had to assimilate himself with his new surroundings, learning to control his new body, getting used to its strength. All in preparation for their first field mission that had been postponed for him. Since he still wasn't used to all this new scientific gizmos, he would simply be going in as escort with Grace and Norm.

There were at least another two hours to go before he actually had to get up, so might as well get ready now, there was no way he was going to get any more sleep now. With some effort the brunette dragged his wheelchair towards him and unfolded it, grasping the sides he lifted himself up and sat down on his chair. He wheeled himself towards the adjoined bathroom and underwent his usual cleaning regime. While brushing his teeth he caught sight of his reflection; his hair had grown out a bit. Guessed there wasn't any need to keep it short anymore since it wasn't his human body that was out in the field, but the avatar one. Still, he thought rubbing his bristled chin, a shave wouldn't be out of the question.

Cleaned and refreshed he left the bathroom, and got dressed in a thin vest and cargo pants before leaving for the link room. Norm was already there, getting ready setting up his pack for when they leave. Grace and Max were in the middle quietly talking to each other, looking over last minute figures.

"Good thing you're up marine, heard you had a bad dream," Grace taunted, when she spotted him.

Jake couldn't help but blush, a marine having a nightmare was just embarrassing. He didn't reply to her taunt; instead he hurried to finish his own pack, it was already half-packed. He ignored Grace's scowl as he cocked the rifle, checking it was in working condition, before grabbing some of the set-up rations for his use and putting them in his backpack as well.

"Sully!" someone called his name.

He turned around and noticed the pilot Trudy Chacon approaching, dressed in her flight suit. She's a rock-hard former Marine with thousands of flight hours out in the badlands. She was quite small, standing next to Grace she only came to just under the older woman's chin, but her size said nothing about her strength. She was tough cookies, and Jake knew there were very few that could go against her.

"Colonel wants to see you in the Armour Bay," she said.

The brunette arched an eyebrow in confusion; he gave Norm a puzzled glance and pivoted from his table to follow Trudy to the Armour Bay. Passing tilt-rotors under repair, there were heavily armed scorpions as well as several SA-2 SAMSON work-horses outfitted with door guns and rocket pods. All packed in rows.

"You guys're packing some heavy ordinance," Jake commented at the sight.

Trudy smirked. "Yeah, 'cause we're not the only thing flyin' around there. Or the biggest. I'm gonna need you on a door gun, I'm a man short."

"Yeah, no problem," Jake nodded. She smiled and extended her fist so that he could bump it with his.

"See ya on the flight-line, zero-nine," then she pointed down. "He's down there."

Jake thanked her and then rolls his chair along the central gallery of the Armour Bay, passing a row of Ampsuits standing in service racks. Techs clamber over the 'suits, loading with cranes and lifts. At the end of the row was a makeshift gym area. Colonel Quaritch was there bench-pressing massive plates, for a man his age he was in great shape.

"The low gravity makes you soft," he grunted, pushing the last rep. "You get soft, Pandora will shit you out dead with zero warning."

Quaritch racks up the bar and stands up, he's sweating but not winded. Grabbing a towel the older man wiped away the moisture. "I pulled your records, Corporal. Venezuela- that was some mean bush. Nothing like this here, though. You got heart kid, coming out here."

Jake frowned. "I figured… it was just another hellhole," well he didn't think of Pandora like that, so far everything he had seen was amazing. But this was his was superior he was talking with and he had to agree with the man.

The Colonel chuckled appreciatively, clapping Jake on the shoulder. The chief mechanic yelled out from the nearest Ampsuit. "The servo's in, Colonel, if you want to try it."

Quaritch nodded at him; he crossed to the Ampsuit, with Jake following close behind. "I was in First Recon a few years ahead of you. More than a few. Two tours in Nigeria, not a scratch on me. I come out here and," he points to his scarred face.

"They could fix this if I rotated back. But you know what? I kinda like it. Reminds me every day what's out there. Besides, I can't leave," he said looking towards as if he could see outside and into the tree-line. "**This** is my war, here."

The Colonel grabbed the handle bars on the top, lifting himself up and inside the cramped compartment of the cockpit of the suit, searching for the belt to strap himself in before throwing some switches. The suit's gas-turbine spools up with a rising whine.

"The Avatar program is a joke- buncha limpdick scientists. But we have a unique opportunity here, you and I. A recon Marine in an avatar body could get me the intel I need, on the ground, right in the hostiles' camp."

The whine was now a roaring whoosh as the suit trembles with power, causing the air boiled above the exhaust vents. Quaritch reaches in and operates the controls, making one of the huge metal hands flex open and close. He nods at the waiting mechanic. "Looks good," he told him.

Then he turned to Jake. "I need you to learn about these savages, gain their trust. Find out how I can force their cooperation or hit 'em hard if they don't. Maybe you can keep some of my boys from going home like you, or bagged-and-tagged."

Pointing out his disability was something he didn't appreciate, but he kept his mouth shut and nodded in agreement. "That sounds real good, Colonel. So… am I still with Augustine?"

"On paper. You walk like one of her science pukes, you quack like one, but you report to me. Can you do that for me?"

Jake nods in agreement. He atched as slowly Quaritch brings the ampsuit to life. He steps forward and pivots smoothly, balancing the two ton machine on one foot while sweeping the arms in strong, graceful arcs. Jake gasped when he realizes he is doing 'Wu-Shoo Kata'. A flawless display of strength and control. Jake was impressed, Quaritch was the kind of man he respected- focused, hard. Determined. A man who knew the world.

"Look son, I take care of my own. Get me what I need and I'll see that you get your legs back when you rotate home. Your **real** legs."

The brunette watched in stunned silence, did he hear correctly was Colonel actually promising him his legs back? Could he actually do that. he watched as Quaritch raised the suit's hand and slams the canopy shut like the visor of a helmet. Then the Colonel walked past, huge feet clanging past him causing the ground to shake.

"Just think about it," the older man called out before disappearing behind two metal doors.

Slowly Jake wheeled himself out of the Armour Bay, his thoughts a muddled mess of ideas. There really wasn't a question about what he wanted; he wanted his legs back. That was his biggest dream, and he would be able to leave this planet quicker and go back home. It was just another mission, one where his other body was a fucking hermaphrodite. So if he did what Quaritch wanted then he get his legs back, his life, and go back home.

Without even realizing it he was already back in the Link room, everything was already set up and ready. Professor Augustine was in a frenzy, ordering everyone around to get everything finished. The techs were cowering in fear away from her.

"Get ready everyone, we're going in," Grace instructed. When she spotted him entering she went towards him. "So what did Atilla want?" she asked.

"Just Marines comparin' tattoos."

Grace huffed in disbelief. "Yeah. Well, listen to me Marine," she said drilling him with a look. "You're driving an avatar now. That mean you're in my world, got it?"

"Got it," he replied.

She grimaced at his carefree attitude, and turned around striding towards Jake's Link Unit, as the other went to catch up.

"That son of a bitch has screwed up this program enough. All this," indicating towards the link room, "exists so we can go out there and build a bridge of trust to these people, who could teach us much. But thanks to Quaritch and his thugs the Na'vi won't even talk to us anymore."

"Then how's this supposed to work?"

Grace smiled at that. "With a new face of course," she said turning to Norm. "You're fluent, you've studied the culture, you're non-threatening. The ones we know best, the Omaticaya clan, may give you a chance. Maybe you can get them back to the table before things go tits-up for good."

Norm however failed to see the encouragement. "This is failing as a pep talk."

The shell already open Grace stood beside him as he dragged himself inside the unit, the older professor not making a move to help him this time. The last few times she had tried only earned her a harsh glare.

"Then how do we contact them?" Jake asked.

"We don't. They contact us. If they see us taking our samples, treating the forest with respect," she said giving Jake another look. "**Not** trampling everything in sight, they may reach out to us."

He couldn't help but snort. "Or they may skin us and make a drum…" Jake mumbled under his breath.

"Just keep your mouth shut and let Norm do the talking."

The biometric sensory shell was lowered over him, and then the lid was slammed down. No matter how many times he went through this, the sensation still left him breathless. The sudden onslaught on his new senses, completely different from that of his human body. By now the avatars weren't kept in the facility anymore, now that a phase link had been properly set up they were sleeping in their own bunks outside the main facility, in their natural environment.

So when he woke from the blur of lights he was met by the rising sun of Pandora filtered through the wooden screens on their window. Jake simply laid there for a while, trying to get used to his avatar body, slowly moving his fingers, rotating his wrists, flexing his arms before finally sitting up. It was the feeling below his lower back that always surprised him. He had actual legs. There were times, especially after a hard day's training, that after he fell asleep and woke up in his human body he would try to stand up, as if he was still in his avatar… and fail miserably.

It was always a harsh blow to realize that he still couldn't walk. It was probably something he would have to mention in his log, but so far he couldn't bring himself to do so. It was too… private. Then there was Quaritch's offer, with that he could finally have what he wanted, In his own body. That was the onky thing that drove him to go on this mission.

Slowly he stood up, and dressed himself in his specially made camo-gear and Kevlar vest since he was there as protection. Unlike Norm and Grace who wore something lighter, and easier to move in. Max, exo-pack over his face, came out to meet them with their oversized packs on a trolley.

"Everything is ready, your ride is already waiting for you on the strip," he said, his voice slightly muffled by the mask.

"Good," Grace said handing him a clipboard. "Start calibrating. We're on the flight line in ten minutes." Max nodded and jogged back to the Link room.

Trudy was waiting for them in a pressurized cockpit, they stashed their equipment and packs inside the Samson, and then they took off. It was a bumpy start to ride as Trudy tried to even the Samson out.

Flying over a carpet of rainforest, past sheer cliffs and cloud-wreathed mesas, Trudy's Samson tilt-rotor chasing its shadow across the treetops as it flew on. Though the ship was a Blackhawk, it was tiny in the vast primeval landscape of Pandora. Angling through the open side doors of the Samson, trooper Wainfleet, a burly bold man in exo-mask and body armour, leaned on his door gun, scanning for aerial predators, as if waiting to actually shoot one down.

In avatar form Jake, Grace, and Norm watch the forest unrolling beneath them, the wind blasting against their clothes. Jake mans the other door gun, his feet propped on the skids for support as he leaned out from the side. Trudy grinned from the front, she twists the controls of the Samson and banks to follow a shallow river.

"Strumbeest herd, one o'clock," she called out through the intercom.

Norm jumped excitedly, moving towards the side pulling at Jake's sleeve to gain his attention. Jake managed to look just in time to see a herd of Strumbeest running bellow them. They were massive six-legged creatures reminiscent of buffalo, their hoofs thundering across the river. Their skin was a mottled blue on their plated back with brown and greens around a big horn-like structure on their head. Jake couldn't help but whistle at the sight, now those were some fearsome beasts.

"Looks like a bull, six cows and some juveniles," Grace said, squinting at the ground.

"The bull had the red on the dorsal armour?" Norm asked. Grace nods approvingly.

Jake ignored their chatter for the most part; he was simply amazed at the environment, the different types of terrain, from the lush forest that led to the vast savannah-like planes, to the mountains tall and jagged, tipped with snow. There was so much to see that Jake's head was spinning; this was only the second time he flew over Pandora and the sight was stunning.

They flew over a vast lake, suddenly hundreds of purple winged creatures take flight from the lake, startled by the Samson. They skimmed the water above their own reflections. Jake was reminded of miniature dragons, with their long snake-like necks, with four pectoral wings and long tail.

"Those are Tetrapterons!" Grace commented, noticing his fascination.

The ground dropped away as the Samson flies over a waterfall hundreds of feet high. Trudy banks hard, rolling in on the gorge below like a gun-run. Somewhere behind him Wainfleet whoops, while Norm looks like he's about to be sick.

Jake simply grins into the airstream, enjoying the ride.

They flew for a few hours before they found a small clearing, a meadow among towering trees. The fern-like 'grass' was beaten down in waves by the rotor-wash as the Samson settles to the ground. Jake pulled the massive door gun off its pintle mount and hefted it like an assault rifle. He and Wainfleet leaped out to the LZ, scanning the tree-line warily, weapons aimed. Grace jogs forward to the cockpit, motioning Trudy to shut the engine down. She towered over Wainfleet who looked up at her with slight unease.

"Stay with the ship, one idiot with a gun's enough."

"Whatever you say, Doc," the trooper replied.

Jake took point as they entered the jungle. The forest seemed to engulf them in a cyan gloom. The shadows are alive with the chittering sounds of unseen alien wildlife. He moved through the foliage, his senses hyper-alert, looking around like a tourist in hell. Something heavy crashed on the ground; Jake jumped away, cocking his gun up to the trees above him. Grace was instantly there pushing the rifle down.

"Don't, they're harmless!" she hissed.

He gave the scientist a puzzled look before looking up at the creatures swinging above him there in the canopy. They were monkey-like creatures, with powder blue fur and four arms, eyes a vivid yellow. They shrieked and howled as they swung away from them, flashing through the sunlight streaming down in shafts. They reminded him of the few pictures of the natives that he saw; it seemed like even evolution took the same steps here as they did on earth.

They kept on moving. Jake shuddered away from a plant with swaying tendrils that seemed to be reaching towards him as he walked pass. Everything in the forest seemed alive, with plants that reacted and moved like animals. Jake gritted his teeth together as they continued to move through the forest, his nerves on edge as if every shadow concealed the razor fangs of death.

"Relax Marine, you're starting to make me nervous," Grace said, pushing him ahead on the trail.

She forced him to lower his muzzle as he followed her. Grace moved nimbly on the path, seemingly unconcerned, not caring about the dangers that could await them inside. He sighed wearily as they continued on. Trees towered above them, making Jake feel as small as an ant, the trail in front of them getting steeper and tougher. This route hadn't been travelled in a long time.

Soon they found themselves in a clearing with an overgrown building made of timbers cut from the local trees, with a thatch roof. Yet it had now been abandoned, vines covering it, crushing the rotten wood as the jungle reclaimed it. Grace looked sadly upon the sight; this had to be the school that Dr. Augustine had run before, trying to teach the natives English. She sighed and slowly walked towards the dilapidated building.

"How will they know we're here?" Norm asked as he stepped inside.

Grace gave him a small smile. "I'm sure they're watching us right now."

Norm gulped; Jake looked behind him as he approach the school, feeling unseen eyes digging into his back. His boots cracked dry leaves as he tried to avoid the few mouldering children's books littering the floor of the school. Stepping on the floorboards, caused them to creak dangerously. Jake moved slowly around, worried it would all collapse around him.

Grace gathered up all the book in a pile, looking down at the sadly. "The kids were so bright, so eager to learn… they picked up English faster than I could teach them," she said to herself with a sad chuckle.

Jake felt a pang of regret as he explored the dimly lit room. Everything was rotted, the furniture was broken, shelf's collapsed, and the few bits of pottery shattered. Grace and Norm were selecting dirty instruments from storage cases on a wooden table, checking them over so that they were still in working order.

"Bring the soil probe-right there, yellow case," Grace ordered, Norm around.

Jake looked up at when he heard rustling sound above him. There among the rafters, were roosting stingbats eyed him warily, fluttering their wings and squeaking. Although they didn't look much like earth bats, nothing furry, more like Tetrapterons although smaller. The underside speckled black and yellow standing out against the leathery bluish skin. Again like all creatures on Pandora the stingbat had more appendages than earth animals. The serpent-like head of the creature hissed at him, yellowish eyes following their every movement warily.

Grace picked up a mouldering copy of 'The Lorax' by Dr. Seuss from the floor and puts it back on the shelf. "The stingbats knock them off. I guess I always hope somebody will come back and read them."

"Why don't they come back?" Norm asked.

The professor frowned skimming the covers of the book. "The Na'vi learned as much about us as they needed to know…" she replied with an edge of bitterness.

Jake wondered what she meant by that, then he noticed something at the wall beside him. Slowly he approached the dusty blackboard and reached out to touch a pattern of holes blasted into the slate. They were unmistakably bullet holes, and a horrified thought entered his mind. "What happened here?" he turned to ask her.

"Are you going to help with this gear? We've got a lot to do," she replied sharply and turned away from him. Jake watched her as he jammed some of the equipment into his pack. A part of him could already guess what had happened here. It wasn't the first time he had seen such a sight at times of war.

After gathering up anything that was still working they left the school house and entered the forest. Jake kept quiet as Grace and Norm continued to gather new readings and analyze them. Currently they were crouching down near some tree roots; gently Grace's blue hand brushed away some soil to expose a tangle of root tendrils, explaining things to Norm.

"See, right here where the roots of the two trees interact," she took out a tiny sample using a needle-like probe. Norm uses a digital device to scan the roots, pointing out exciting formations and readings.

After a while of simply standing there Jake felt bored; he wasn't interested in the same stuff they were, so he decided to scout ahead a few meters. Again he was fascinated by all the plant-life, the lush paradise that surrounded him. In all honestly he couldn't see what could be so dangerous, all the creatures he had met so far had been small and more frightened of him than the other way around. He didn't think however that the Colonel would downplay the danger that could be waiting for them inside here. He scanned his surroundings, sharp eyes spotted something cream-coloured ahead.

Curiosity gripped him as he Squeezed his way past between two trees he came to a glade filled with shoulder-high spiral plants. He reached out in fascination, blue fingers brushing against the side-SHTOOK- and it sucked down into a tube in the ground so quickly it seemed to have simply disappeared. Interested, Jake touches another just to see if it happened again, and just like a balloon popping it vanished as well. All of a sudden a chain-reaction begins and the whole colony pulls down into the ground, revealing an enormous Hammerhead Titanothere.

Like a six-legged rhinoceros, but twice the size. Its massive, low-slung head had projections of bone giving it the look of a hammerhead shark. Thick skin, a stony grey along its legs with veins of cyan blue around its tree-trunk legs and blue around the thick plate of its back. Its baleful eyes locked onto him; fearfully Jake raises his rifle, ready to shoot at any moment.

Grace, who had been alerted by the creature's snorts, ran to him but stopped when she saw the agitated Hammerhead Titanothere towering over Jake. She stayed behind a tree, pressing as close against the bark as possible; raising her hands she pressed the mike against her throat.

"Don't shoot, you'll piss it off," she hissed at him.

Suddenly the bull Hammerhead bellows and lowered its three meter wide sledgehammer of a skull, rearing to trample him down.

"It's already pissed off!" he didn't want to end up mushed on his first day.

"Trust me Jake, that armour's too thick for bullets."

Jake bit his bottom lip; slowly he lowered his rifle and started to back away, hoping that the creature would get the message that he wasn't a threat. The hammerhead bellows again, pawing the earth in agitation.

"It's a territorial threat display. Do not run, or he'll charge."

By now Jake was panicking, display or not he couldn't simply stand around do nothing. "What do I do?"

"Hold your ground!" Grace commanded.

The hammerhead slashes its head sideways, splintering the surrounding saplings. It bellows again, lowering its head, and charges. Thinking quickly Jake screamed at the top of his lungs, spread his arms wide and ran straight towards the thing. If this didn't work, well… he had led a pretty good life- yeah, right…

The creature stopped abruptly with an oversized bleat, thick legs crunching against the ground as it came to a halt. Jake stared at the sight in amazement, his ploy had actually worked; triumphantly he took a step forward, raising his arms higher and waving them about. The creature continued to back away, snorting and bleating at him in warning.

"Oh yeah! Who's bad? That's right, me, go run away you oversized cow!" he continued to shout

Grace watched the display with a mirthful smile, just like Jake she had been surprised that that actually worked. She had expected him to be trampled, it would have been a sad loss on the Avatar body. Suddenly she felt that something was wrong, a prickling sensation against the spine of her Grace glanced to the side and gasped when she noticed that just behind Jake was a massive Thanator. The most awesome land predator the universe had ever conceived. This thing could eat a T-rex and have the xenomorph from Alien for desert.

He creature was a sleek black in colou six-limbed panther, with an armoured head and massive distensible jaws. She watched in frozen fear and awe as the Thanator advanced on an unaware Jake. Who was still focused on taunting the hammerhead.

"That's what I'm talkin' about, bitch!" he shouted, at the bull. The bull wheels around trumpeting in fear and crashes away through the splintering undergrowth.

Realizing that was Jake was about to get eaten she had to hurry and warn him. "Jake-Marine!" she tried to call but Jake was too distracted with the hammerhead. "That's right mother-"

'Growl'

Jake stopped his taunting when he heard that ferocious sound; his spun around and three tons of rippling Thanator launched over him, landing between him and the hammerhead that got away. Its sleek body twisted on itself gracefully, turning to face Jake, bearing its fangs with a lethal hiss.

Jake stared at the beast in fear, all the confidence before drained away. "What about this one? Run, don't run?"

"Run. Definitely **run**!" Grace shouted.

He bolts, running into the dense forest behind him; the Thanator emitted an ear-splitting roar and leaped after him. Jake launched himself between two large tree trunks, forcing the beast to claw its way around the side while he tried to scrambled up and around over the tangled roots. His foot getting caught on the roots as he tried to run. Claws slashed the air behind him, exploding the bark of the trunk he felt the splinters hit against his skin. Jake willed himself forwards, his new muscles burning with strain as he continued to run. He prayed to get away, but the creature seemed to get ever closer.

The Thanator was right on his heels, with strong muscles the beast was airborne again moving amongst the trees, its massive body backing out the sun. Thinking quickly Jake dived under a massive root system of a big tree for cover. The beast hit against the roots. Kindle rains around him as it tears into the root-trunks above him. Claws slash down next to him as he rolls and crawls out of its attack. Glistening jaws smash and snap against the barrier, sending chunks of wood flying. Its spittle sprays across Jake's jaws, just inches away from his face.

Fuck it, he thought. Jake rolled onto his back, grabbing his gun, and fires his AR point blank at the Thanator, but the rifle was snatched out of his hands. The beast screeches an ungodly wail of pain and rage; it ripped the entire trunk away in animalistic anger. Jake tried to scrambled away to escape but huge jaws lunged downwards and snap shut around his backpack, ripping him out of the tree and shaking him like a dog with a rabbit.

Quickly Jake unlatched the straps and flies free before the Thanator crushed the pack with its massive teeth, giving Jake a moment to sprint away. A hideous bellow echoed behind him as the Thanator crashes after him. He kept on running, that was the only option he had, the surroundings blurring into one as a black tornado shreds the forest behind him.

He ran into the clearing and stopped at the edge of a cliff, a waterfall rushing beside into the foamy waters below. Jake looked behind him at the beast and the rushing foaming waters below him. He couldn't tell how deep it was, but there really seemed no other choice. The creature stalks towards him, its claws ready to swipe him down. Jake ducks under and with no other thoughts leaped off the waterfall, disappearing down the throat of the thundering cataract.

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><p><em>Review and join the dark side we have cookies!<em>


	5. Chapter 5

_Hello everyone, I know its been a while since I updated, but I had been going through some issues but I managed them and am getting my life back in order. So I apologies for taking so long to update._

_This chapter had been a pain to write, doing all these translation, finding the right words figuring out how to rephrase things so that the Na'vi translator could work properly. I promise that in the next chapter I won't be doing this again, what I'll do instead is that whenever they speak in Na'vi I'll just write it out in 'italics'. So much easier._

_Beta read by the wonderful Kuro Mitsu!_

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><p>Chapter 5: The intruder<p>

Tsu'tey was sleeping in the treetops when it all happened.

The Na'vi heard the roar before seeing it, golden eyes startled open in panic. A blue hand reaching out towards his bow and arrow that he kept beside him in self-defence. He looked around him for any signs of danger, but relaxed when he saw none, that is until another roar echoed through the forest. This time the blue creature jumped up and rushed towards the area where the sound came from. Tsu'tey jumped from branch to branch, his lean agile body keeping its balance with no problem as he moved. He stopped abruptly when he noticed that the forest came to an abrupt end, revealing the sheer drop of the waterfall beneath him.

He frowned when he noticed the agitated _palulukan_ (Thanator) clawing and stomping near the edge of the cliff as if it saw some sort of tasty snack at the bottom. It huffed angrily before leaping away back into the jungle. He looked down and was surprised when he noticed something distinctively blue at the bottom of the waterfall, it was a person. Panic ran through the Na'vi's mind and Tsu'tey jumped down to the ground; keeping low to the ground and using the shrubbery as a cover he crawled towards the edge of the cliff to have a better look. Maybe this person was already dead, a drop like that would kill most.

Suddenly there was a huge splashing sound and the Na'vi quickly ran behind the boulder and saw the unknown Na'vi emerge from the deep. He did not like what he saw.

It was one of those damn _uniltìrantokx_ (dream walker bodies), those _twatute _(sky people) coming to their home, taking their land, and even worse now taking their shape. Stealing every part of their identity that their dirty hands could grab on to. He kept himself hidden, picking up his bow and arrow, getting ready to take aim and shoot the _uniltiranyu_ (dream walker) as he was struggling out of the water.

The male was clawing himself out to the bank, and Tsu'tey slowly took aim, but he stopped when he noticed something, or rather, scented something. It was the scent of a female. The Na'vi frowned, staring closely at the male in front of him, watching every struggled movement; the scent was coming from him. He gritted his teeth together and reluctantly lowered his bow, hating himself for not being able to shoot; but you don't kill a breeding female, it was as simple as that. Even if this one looked more like a _tsamsiyu_ (warrior) unlike the other _uniltiranyu_ that came to this land.

Tsu'tey strapped the weapon back onto his back, and deciding that for now he would simply watch the invader, but if he did cause any more trouble then Tsu'tey would break his vow and kill this abomination.

He stayed hidden, not taking his eyes off the _uniltiranyu_ male as he lay there heaving and coughing trying to catch his breath. The creature looked afraid as he sat up quickly, obviously very tired. He took off his shirt, wringing the water out of it before putting it back on before wearily standing up and staggering into the forest. With Tsu'tey close behind.

They kept on going like this, with Tsu'tey wondering why _uniltiranyu _was on his own. They normally moved around in groups for safety and protection and not too far out from their camp either. This one was a long way from his home; he didn't have the confidence that the others had. This one wasn't as sure footed as the female _Karyu_ (teacher), he was almost timid in his nature. Tsu'tey didn't think this creature would survive very long out here in the wild. Not with the amount of noise he was making; more predators would come, there were plenty around.

And nightfall was coming.

The creature had picked up a stick and was using it to beat the long plants and leaves around him as he moved. Not caring at all that he was alerting everyone in the forest to his presence, foolish little creature. Maybe an arrow through his skull was not enough.

"Tsu'tey…" came a whispered voice that was almost as light as the wind.

He turned around and saw the daughter of the tribe leader Eytukan, Neytiri. She was a beautiful Na'vi, with bright golden eyes, a smooth round face with a pointed chin, her ears pierced with part of a braided hair coming down the side of her face.

"Neytiri, _Ole nagti kameie _(I see you)," he greeted.

"_Ole nagti kameie_," she replied, moving to sit down beside him, her gaze directed in the same direction as Tsu'tey's.

"_Uniltiranyu_..." she gasped when she realized what Tsu'tey was watching. "_…fitseng?_ _Pelun? _(in this place? Why?)"

"_Yaymak uniltiranyu_ (Foolish dream walker)," he hissed out.

Neytiri put a hand on his shoulder. "_Peu nga ne si_? (What are you going to do?)" she asked, golden eyes filled with worry.

"_Ka omum _(Don't know)," he replied.

They both continued on their way, following the dream walker as he tried to fight his way through, but it was obvious that he was starting to panic more with the darkness moving closer in on him. He watched closely as the creature grabbed smaller branches and dry grass, piling them together before sitting down by it. He took some odd device out of his pocket, flicking it open to reveal a flame, and he used the device to put the dried kindle on fire. Tsu'tey wanted to smack that creature right then for his ignorance, Neytiri must have felt the same way because she was hissing angrily at the man.

Seeing the fire made so close to plants must be worrying her, as her role of the future _Tsahik_ (spiritual leader) she had a strong connection to all of Eywa's children, and seeing such reckless endangerment of their mother's land must be angering her. He didn't stop her as she raised her own bow, readying to take a shot. He didn't care if there was one less skywalker around to pollute their planet.

But she didn't.

Instead her eyes had gone wide with shock, and when Tsu'tey followed her eyeline he noticed why she was wasn't.

It was an _atokirian_, a woodsprite, the seed from the Tree of Souls, a pure and sacred spirit. The little tuffs of white light, almost like a glowing flower dancing towards them, one of them coming to rest on Tsu'tey's finger as he reached towards them. He looked towards Neytiri who was watching the scene with awe, her bow now lowered. He wanted to know what she saw, as the future Tsahik she was the interpreter of the will of Eywa.

"_Neytiri_?"

"…" she didn't say anything, but kept on staring from him to the human. It looked like however that she wasn't going to kill the dreamwalker.

"_Neytiri_?" he asked, again.

"_Ayoeng pey_ (we wait)," she answered simply.

Tsu'tey couldn't help but frown, was this _tawtute_ really that important? What kind of destiny did Eywa have for this creature? It didn't make any sense to the young warrior.

By now the skywalker had taken out a small sharp knife and was using it to hack away at a long branch, stripping the bark of its leaves and thorns until it was a just a long stick. Jake ripped cloth from his shirt, wrapping it around the top of the stick. He then looked around himself trying to remember some of the things that Grace had taught him. There was a tree nearby that released a highly toxic sticky resin that was flammable. The tree had striped yellow colouring, easily distinguishable, but in this dim light the markings were difficult to make out. It took him a while to finally find the damn tree, by now it was almost pitch black, the campfire he had made had almost gone out, and the forest was alive with the most amazing screeches.

He had to act quickly.

Jake rubbed the clothed stick against the resin, covering it in the sticky dark fluid. Then using the embers from the dying flame, he gasped when cloth suddenly burst into flames. Highly flammable alright. The sound of screeching grew louder as the animals were startled by the burst of flame. He himself was as anxious, right now this flame was possibly his only weapon against whatever kind of hell beasts existed on this planet.

He heard yelping sounds, like that of an injured dog, scuttling of the bushes. A growl right behind him, too close behind him in fact. Shadows rushed right past him, their shapes deformed and made more intimidating by the flames. He waved the baton around, hitting it against the ground in an attempt to scare the beasts but they just seemed to get bolder, growling angrily, snapping at his feet. Jake hissed out in pain when suddenly he felt something razor sharp dig into his tail. On reflex he jumped, using his momentum to throw his body to the side so that he could flick the creature off him.

He took his knife in one hand, using the butt of the hilt to slam one of those creatures away from him. Slicing at the air hoping to at least get one lucky hit, but these dog-like things were too quick; the flames seemed to be the only thing that scared them. Yet they didn't stay down for long. He could only make out slight features in the light.

They were sleek, with lean strong bodies, six legs like seemingly all creatures on this planet, and a face that reminded him of a melted dog. There was a pack of them, at least 12, all hungry and ready to take a big chunk out of his new body. One of them lunged at him and Jake barely managed to dodge the attack before another one of them aimed at his throat. He cursed, losing his footing on the muddy ground; he slipped and fell, his back hitting hard against a tree, knocking the air right out of his lungs.

'Shit this is it,' he thought. 'This is it, this is how I'm going to die. Eaten by dogs of all things.'

They prowled towards him, their purplish skin glowing almost metallic in the firelight. They licked their chops, drool sliding heavily from their mouths; Jake closed his eyes, ready to simply let it all end. It probably would be easier now, last thing he ever wanted was to be able to walk once again, and he got that opportunity. Tommy would be waiting for him on the other side after all, and they had been waiting for each other for so long.

One of the creatures bent down low, ready to lunge at him again, this time aiming for his throat. Jake waited for the pain but it never came. Instead his ear was filled with the sound of amazing howling. He cracked his eyes open and was surprised to see two blurs rushing past him at high speed. Screaming like sirens, waving around long sticks at the dog-like beasts. It took a while for Jake to figure out what these new creatures were; they were the natives the Na'vi. Jake sat up to get a better look.

The first was a female who was crouching down in front of him in a protective stance, hissing out in warning; he couldn't make out much about her since he could only see her back. The second was a male, tall and strong, with such confidence in each of his movement that Jake couldn't help but be transfixed. He waved what looked like a bow around, hitting the creatures away from him one after the other; he moved so swiftly that Jake could hardly keep track. The way he moved, effortlessly clearing a path, taking arrows from his satchel and shooting them off with endless fluidity. He heard a pained yowl as one of them hit the mark; this seemed to set off a chain reaction as the rest of the creatures ran away.

The female one hurried towards the injured creature; she whispered gibberish like a prayer as she slowly stroked down the struggling dog. Swiftly she removed a small knife from the sleeve hanging from her skirt and reached towards the creature as it was struggling to breathe and cut its throat in one quick move. Gently she laid the now dead dog-like creature down, muttering a few more words that sounded almost apologetic.

She sighed, standing up, turning to look at him with a hard stare that held so much hate that he couldn't help but flinch. But he decided to be strong about this, these people saved his life after all; they had just saved him, they weren't about to kill someone whom they just saved…right?

Jake tried to stand up, ready to thank them for saving his life, but suddenly he felt something solid hit against his chest and he was pushed back against the muddy ground. He groaned out in pain, staring in confusion at the large almost ape-like foot that was planted firmly on his chest.

"What…?" he tried to speak only for it to come out like coughing.

"_Lu fnu uniltìranyu _(Be quiet dreamwalker)," the male growled out, adding more pressure onto his chest.

She whispered something to him, and he didn't think she was telling the Na'vi to go easy on him. Instead she simply turned to stare at him again.

"You caused this," she hissed out in broken English, her voice thick with anger.

"What?" he wheezed out.

"This!" she said, pointing at the scene of the dead dog behind her. "You did this, you were the reason she had to die!" she shouted at him. "She should not have to die for you!"

Jake stared from her to the dead dog, what was she on about? Those things attacked him first, trying to eat him! He was only trying to defend himself. She huffed and turned away from him, and the male followed suit, removing his foot from Jake's chest and went after the female Na'vi. As fast as he could he scrambled to stand up; he picked up his discarded knife and flaming stick and went to follow them. He pushed aside a branch but stopped dead when he had come face to face with the male Na'vi.

"Er…?" he said hesitantly, not sure if this one could speak English, and his Na'vi was nonexistent.

Without a word the creature's long arm reached out, grabbed hold of the baton and pried it away from him. He tried to grab it back but before he knew it the stick was thrown into the river, the fire going out instantly.

"Hey!" he shouted, but the male Na'vi ignored him and continued on his way.

He was panicking, wondering what he was going to do in the dark, he couldn't see a foot in front of him. He stumbled through the dark undergrowth when he noticed something glowing in the darkness in front of him. He reached for it, hoping to use it as a source of light, when he suddenly noticed more and more things starting to glow. Suddenly the surroundings were simply glowing in an almost eerie blues and greens. In stared in fascination as all the plants were emitting their own bioluminescent glow, it was like something out of a fairytale. Jake couldn't help but simply stand there and stare.

He reached out towards one of long leafs, tracing his fingers across the surface, watching mesmerized at a dark trail that followed. Even the fruits glowed like bulbs or fairy lights; Jake was tempted to climb up one of these trees and simply pluck a fruit but restrained himself. If he didn't hurry he was going to lose sight of the two Na'vi.

"Wait!" he called out, running after them.

But what he thought was a path was actually a fallen tree that made a bridge that connected two parts of the terrain. Cautiously he walked along the slippery surface, continuously asking them to wait for him, to slow down just a bit, why they had saved him; soon he lost his footing, expecting to fall to his death, when something grabbed his arm and effortlessly pulled him up.

"_Pxel 'eveng, ha meyp_ (Like a child, so weak)," the male said distastefully. "_Oe tspang nga set_ (I should kill you now)," he said in a low voice. Jake didn't know what he was saying, but he was sure that it wasn't anything good.

"Be quiet!" the female Na'vi hissed, which earned her a glare from the male. "You make too much noise, go back home _uniltìranyu_."

Now that word sounded familiar, it was one of the words that Norm kept on babbling about, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what it meant. "Look, I got lost, I don't even know where I am."

The male snorted and let go of his arm. Jake only barely managed to catch himself from falling again. He glared at the male but kept his mouth shut, right now these two aliens were the only ones who could help him get out of this damn forest, maybe they could even show him the way to their home. That was part of his mission after all.

"Look you did just save me, you can't leave me like this."

This only seemed to anger the girl even more. "Nothing but trouble!" she growled out. "Why you even here?"

"I was part of Grace Augustine's group, you know her don't you? She's the one who taught you English right?"

She stared at him for a while but didn't say anything. Then she turned to the male and quickly said a couple of words to him, he growled back in quick succession as if he was shooting down her ideas. Either way he was not happy about whatever she was suggesting to him. Instead he growled and quickly grabbed something from his side, a small knife, thrusting it towards Jake in an attempt to kill him. He jumped back not knowing what brought round this sudden change; he went for his own weapon when the girl suddenly shouted.

"_Ftang!_(Stop)"

The male Na'vi froze in his step, and Jake was wondering what was going on; his gaze was drawn to something white and glowing floating down towards the male. Coming to land gently on the tip of his blade, it reminded Jake of a mixture between a dandelion seed and jellyfish pictures he had seen when he was younger. But just as suddenly as that one glowing thing came down, a whole load of them started floating down too, all of them gently landing over his body.

Thinking they were some sort of parasitic bug, he tried to wipe them off him, only for the female Na'vi to come forward and slap his arm for doing so. "_Ftang, _stop!"

"But these things-"

"Don't touch them!" she reprimanded.

So Jake simply stood there watching as an innumerable amount of these things gathered around him, bathing him in a white glow. He was surprised to find how gentle and almost warm they were tickling against his skin, and just as they had landed on him, they started to drift away, dancing in the calm away from him. He watched their departure with rapt attention, not having a clue about the significance of what had just happened. Even the Na'vi seemed stunned at what just happened, and it was obvious that they were having an inner battle with themselves.

"What where they?" he asked.

"_Atokirian_, a woodsprite. A very pure spirit…" she replied quietly. To Jake however that didn't answer anything.

The female Na'vi stepped away from him and turned to regard her male companion. "_Ayoeng ne munge uniltìranyu ne tashik_ (We have to take the dreamwalker to the our spiritual leader)," the female said.

"_Oe omum_ (I know)," he said with his voice thick. Neytiri knew why, this was twice now that the atokirian came to both Tsu'tey and this dreamwalker. This meant they were connected; how they were connected however was another question, she had to go quickly and consult her mother.

"Come, we have to hurry," she said to the dreamwalker.

Jake felt like he was being tugged from one side to the other by two Ampsuits; one moment they were helping him, then trying to kill him, and then they were back to helping him again. This whole situation made him so nervous and jittery, but he didn't exactly have another choice. At least the two in front of him were an enemy he knew, unlike those that were awaiting him hidden in the forest.

No other choice then to follow.

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><p><em>Hope you all enjoy, now review and join the dark side we have cookies!<em>


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